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| TOLU DANIEL (THE GUY) WINNER POEM OF THE MONTH |
THE
JOY PARADOX – (poem
of the month)
“Para”, “Doxa”
Rewriting the treatise of the status quo,
Ignoring the memoranda of convention,
Evading the borderlines of nature's expectations,
Amending engraved commands of human nature;
Joy is a paradox,
The smiling debris afloat on a flood of tears.
In the face of adversity;
Where vile men deftly place you in their bull's eye,
Breathing hate and breeding blame with their pork nose,
Slandering your noble cause by their bad mouth,
Throwing tantrums and plotting war with their bird-brain -
Joy strengthens,
In the face of adversity.
In the gravity of jeopardy,
Weighing down brutally against your will to push,
Stretching out viciously beyond your power to hold,
Breaking the point between despair
And the anticipated peace of death -
Joy uplifts,
In the gravity of jeopardy.
In the hopelessness of shame,
Where scarce friendships place enemies in abundance,
And disease and spite become your acquaintance,
When the dictation of no just cause oppresses you,
And the noisome rancor of false witnesses silences you -
Joy assures,
In the hopelessness of shame.
In the shamelessness of hope,
When you've long reached the end of the rope,
And you are faced against hope, reason, sense, and self,
When unfulfillment makes life an absurdity of nonsense,
And the face of your expectations is scorned by fleeting time-
Joy dignifies,
In the shamelessness of hope.
On the backdrop of pain,
Grimly shrouded over the beating spanks of your heart,
Erupting as a sigh from the grieving furnace of your breath,
Dripping free as a narrow river from the broken faucet of your
eyes,
Yet smeared by dots of the forceful will of a smile -
Joy animates,
On the backdrop of pain.
And in the absence of happiness
Being a product of happenings,
Joy is a walk you take when life's invariable tides rise,
In such moments, we walk upon the tides;
Pursuing our visions by ignoring our sights-
Yes! Joy walks,
In the absence of happiness.
This is the joy paradox:
Joy strengthens, in the face of adversity.
Joy uplifts, in the gravity of jeopardy.
Joy assures, in the hopelessness of shame.
Joy dignifies, in the shamelessness of hope.
Joy animates, on the backdrop of pain.
Yes! Joy walks, in the absence of happiness.
Tolu Daniel
////////////////////////
MUSIC
OF THE SPHERES
Between the twelve rings of Jupiter
Are decibels of joy?
Their orbital resonances sing
Of revolutions,
Astronomy for the eyes,
Symphony for the ears.
At the region of concrete thoughts,
The thirsty mind drinks
From this ocean of harmony,
And finds therein a second heaven.
Between the earth and the moon,
A tone,
Between the moon and mercury,
A semitone;
Moan,
For a sweet-death your own.
Let the spherical music of life be felt
In the marrows of your dry bone.
Soonest Nathaniel
//////////////////////////////////////
JOY
There is something about joy- the quality, the attitude,
the fruit of the spirit, not the bar soap or the girl- that brings a
smile to my face.
Though the one Joy girl I have in my life also periodically
causes me to break out.
When you consider Beethoven's Ode to Joy, you smile!
You remember Van Dykes song of joy through the amazing rendition
by the Sisters Act and your heart is warmed
Joy does that!
Then there is Joy as acronym- J.O.Y
And Joy as misspelled acrostic- J.Y.O.
J.esus
O.thers
Y.ourself
Order them as your understanding or tradition permits or posits.
There is the canned joy that comes out seasonally
In seasons where the supposed reason for the season is reduced
to a stick like figure tied to a stake and hung on a lace string
When we spend the money and give testimony about money
that we might or might not have tasted/tested, to reference the rude boy
and his twin.
But back to joy, the real thing, the real deal
Let us write Ode's to it like Schiller and Van Dyke
Let's yield to it with reckless abandon
Let us be baptized, immersed in it
Let it lubrihen out all the rough parts of our inner space
And let those who are minded receive this baptism, not of fire
and blood but of joy and laughter.
Yes! Yes! Y
ANDREW WHITE
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
12-Twelve
Memories resurface
Like dead fish in stagnant water
Floating
belly up
Staring with vacuous eyes into grey skies:
1
Àdùké
Omo Daddy
If daddy could see you now
Tears would adorn his eyes
His hands would crave to heal you
2
Àdùké Omo Daddy
Those words would rent the air
To quell your weeping
Daddy knew how to still your tears
Feet shuffling in rhythm to his soft tones
Your cries silently retreating
3
Delight, bliss, joy
Just in being
That was easy
When we were young
4
In those days
When joy was light
And light meant sitting around mother
Listening to tales of ÃŒjà pá and YánÃbo
5
Àdùké is home
Who cares to ask?
Tell her eyes,
Dry your tears
Tell her body,
Rebuke the fever
6
Mother’s singing
Some minutes past midnight
Love so pure and true
Cradling Àdùké
in her arms
7
Àdùké,
she would sing on
K’ómá
gbóná join join
Bà ògà ònà K’ómá tutù
nini
Bà èbà à ná
8
Memories sweet and simple
Of childhood past
Flow into the present
And reveal Àdùké
9
Àdùké
Omo
Daddy
Is this you?
Awash in tears?
Afraid of time’s revelations?
Back bent ?
Shoulders quivering?
10
Àdùké!
Rise up!
11
Rise and enter into the gates
The gates of your victory
12
That joy may come in
Kemibon
/////////////////////////////////////
‘Market
Sojourn’
With
a heart filled with joy,
I
went to the market,
To
buy items needed for life,
I
went to the first stall,
She
had patience to sell,
So
I bought a full pack,
Went
further to the next stall,
He
sold me a case of hardwork,
I
bought a bunch of humility from the boy hawking,
An
Elderly woman wrapped me some morsels of respect,
She
also gave me a slice of modesty,
I
took a roll of humor from the daughter’s hand,
I
was told to pick up the box of safety on the shelf…
I
headed down to the super store to get more items,
The
super store gave me a carton of positive attitude,
My
voucher earned me freebies of honesty,
And
integrity as bonus pack,
I
bought some drugs of affection,
And
took some capsules of fairness and Justice,
The
Security men gave me a tap of boldness and courage,
As
I prepare to take my leave out of the market,
I
saw an elderly couple, who sold me a bag of love mixed with joy and happiness,
They
also gave me a bottle of forgiveness…
I
promised to return to the market to shop for more,
They
said bring a basket of gratitude,
and
we shall all shower u more gifts of mercy.
Please
take your change of peace and security…
Asapen
@Akinyemi
Akinmusire
/////////////////////////////////////
GREAT
HAPPINESS
We knew happiness was among us
With our great expectation in life
Manipulated by unfortunate riches
To create unending mysteries
We knew we are blessed
With the endurance virus in our blood
That misleads harmonious benefits
To our personal discretion of wealth
We felt it was nothing to be hidden
When the thief came at night
Sliding through our imaginary thought
Of coyness and satisfaction
We felt it was nothing to kept
When education was possessed
Student are after their credentials
By faith or by imagination
We knew we were something
When poverty refrain from us
For inheritance of its existence
That nourishes our innermost being
A child was born into this world
We felt like a promise to Withhold
In this lonely life of happiness
While barrenness fading away
Never to be seen among us
We knew we were made
When champions forfeit their strength
For perception and perfection of joy
That encompasses our limitation
Ubongabasi
Ekpo
/////////////////////////////////////
*NO
MORE! *
Friendly foes razed our land
Erased the fingerprints of my hand
With the entire season's toil turned sand
They raced in the euphoria of the torment
Till they crashed out of the tournament
Losing hope of the ornament
His tragedy could not his voice assuaged
With a bang, he left without been luggaged
As nature drowned the master's joy tender-aged
Their livelihood pulsates from our pulse
But cared they a hoot we're their nurse?
Changing the story to a 'suoh sow' of curse!
The devil's blood litred his trail
Engulfing whoever the link assail
Leaving behind charred tales of wail
Then what's June's joy?
If not a chained string of woe?
To us, in this guise, return no more!
Fred Flows
///////////////////////////////////////////////
SHE...
She kindles.
She is the thrill that swirls the earth to a
beatific cry
Cries and temors tugging at the strings of heart
that makes melody
Melody that rends soul in liquid essence of
inspiring fecundity
Fecundity that enlivens humans to the pure
energy of Gaea's sacred womb
Womb birthing the mind into the secret of ages
where nature is stark and naked.
She throbs.
She dampens the spirit of peurility with
restless wonder.
She lures juveniles to the loins of fiery
passions.
She tells a tale in the hall of dreams
Of a place the sun doesn't cease in its streams
of marvel
And the stars taps the feet to the tune of a
never-ending song.
She craves.
She leads me through the fields of bled roses
Awakening primal lust that mere mortals cannot
relieve.
She courses jolts that pelts the body like icy
chill of crushed snow.
She ignites flames of fierce passion that
invigorate souls beyond contain
And She makes the body dance to the crackling
fire of desire.
She rises.
She echoes the dawn and glimpse wonders from
afar.
She beckons me the eyes of the heavens to see
beyond sight.
She unclasps the embrace of the earth to reap
treasures without measure.
She soars and takes me to flight on the wings of
bliss.
She fleets and sweeps me to glory on the winds
of fortune.
She falls.
She befuddles the voice that coax fate to
desire's throbbing
And her spell cast despair bounding the
aggrieved to his pity.
She cloaks the night but by day she is naked
with shame.
She whispers her chaos but in silence she
screams her pain.
She wanders in peace but in rest she lay in
pieces.
She grieves.
Her tide ebbs and silence besets her darkness.
She drives a stake through pain and denies that
hearts bleed.
Her flow recedes to the shores beyond solace's
ambit.
She says goodbye but lost her promises in her
quiescent.
She shed a tear but lost her hopes in a rain of
rue.
She numbs.
Banished by pride she delights in the walk of
ignominy.
Inflicted by light she embraces the safety of
shadows.
Beguiled by fate she lives in the surety of
doom.
Forgotten by melodies she sings the console of
dirges.
Betrayed by hopes she clings to the homely of
dust.
Segun
Peters
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
JOY
I sat in despair,
thinking that life is not fair.
The clouds keep getting dark.
It seems as though my world is crumbling; like a pack of card.
thinking that life is not fair.
The clouds keep getting dark.
It seems as though my world is crumbling; like a pack of card.
Should life dictate my countenance?
The clattering of the spoons,
The murmuring of the pots,
Shouting silently at me.
The clattering of the spoons,
The murmuring of the pots,
Shouting silently at me.
Should what I don't have determine my mood?
I found two answers:
But I must choose one.
I found two answers:
But I must choose one.
A book says "what I have will determine my
countenance."
The other says "even when I don't have, my countenance should glow
The other says "even when I don't have, my countenance should glow
The former is written by men,
The latter is inspired by a Spirit.
The latter is inspired by a Spirit.
I thought to myself:
If I go with the first book, it can only be temporal.
What if I don't have, won't I consider suicide?
If I go with the first book, it can only be temporal.
What if I don't have, won't I consider suicide?
The other says "I can choose to glow even when my pocket is
empty."
I am left with one choice.
I am left with one choice.
Joy- a stranger to many,
Who are ruled by their circumstances.
Joy- a saviour to few that live sanely in an insane world driven by material acquisitions.
Joy, a spirit that thrives even in hard times,
Soothing the soul in a turgid atmosphere.
Who are ruled by their circumstances.
Joy- a saviour to few that live sanely in an insane world driven by material acquisitions.
Joy, a spirit that thrives even in hard times,
Soothing the soul in a turgid atmosphere.
I say to myself:
Though the water looks murky,
The empty pots are crying for food,
The account blares red like a sore eye
Yet I will bask in Joy,
For therein lies my strength,
To scale through life's hurdles.
Though the water looks murky,
The empty pots are crying for food,
The account blares red like a sore eye
Yet I will bask in Joy,
For therein lies my strength,
To scale through life's hurdles.
Ilesanmi
Paul
////////////////////////////
THE
ORIGIN
Adamu is happy within
But where does his joy begin?
From the blood on his knife
Dead husbands children and wives
All for the sake of a herd
Silence is heard
His Joy
But where does his joy begin?
From the blood on his knife
Dead husbands children and wives
All for the sake of a herd
Silence is heard
His Joy
Rasheed is elated
Mission accomplished
Contract sealed
The fruit of a two year seed
Hands were greased
Sponsors deceived
Godfathers will be appeased
His account is pleased
His Joy
Mission accomplished
Contract sealed
The fruit of a two year seed
Hands were greased
Sponsors deceived
Godfathers will be appeased
His account is pleased
His Joy
Halimas tummy grumbles
"Where is he?" She mumbles
A scent wafts into the room
In he comes with a bowl and spoon
Ice cream!!! She smiles
All is forgotten for a while
She collects her treat
Her annoyance retreats
Her Joy
"Where is he?" She mumbles
A scent wafts into the room
In he comes with a bowl and spoon
Ice cream!!! She smiles
All is forgotten for a while
She collects her treat
Her annoyance retreats
Her Joy
Amina prays
'Just this time' she says
She's been like that for days
Time sleeps
Her heart weeps
After steadfastly believing
Suddenly! comes the receiving
Joy
Unrestrained joy
Her Joy
'Just this time' she says
She's been like that for days
Time sleeps
Her heart weeps
After steadfastly believing
Suddenly! comes the receiving
Joy
Unrestrained joy
Her Joy
That tightening of the chest
Lightness of the heart
Giddiness
Bubbly contentment
That feeling within
Where did it begin?
Lightness of the heart
Giddiness
Bubbly contentment
That feeling within
Where did it begin?
A miracle received
Or a parent deceived
A leveled score
Or winning of a war
A fulfilled wish
Or favorite dish
Or a parent deceived
A leveled score
Or winning of a war
A fulfilled wish
Or favorite dish
Its Joy! Joy! Joy!
An overflow of Joy
Some malicious
Others pure bliss
What causes your hearts jubilation?
What's the source of your souls celebration?
What gives you Joy?
Your Joy.
An overflow of Joy
Some malicious
Others pure bliss
What causes your hearts jubilation?
What's the source of your souls celebration?
What gives you Joy?
Your Joy.
Erhio
//////////////////////////////////
ROSES
FOR TEARS
Roses for Tears
Olives in the wind
Laughters in the Mist
Sonnets on trees trunks
Lyrics on riding wheels
You grace my heart every day
Like pearls on a quiet harbour
Marvelling at what you do
I dearly pray you do much more
In the deepest stillness of my heart
You espy and wholly understand
Erupting songs in the distance
Waves of whispering tunes
Piercing the sole of tenderness
A warm climax of sweetness
Enfolds me in an unbearable JOY
Submerged in your aura of greatness
I whole being worships
Words and pictures
Crystals and sand
Chance and sight
Timeless ardors of Love
Wisdom of silence
Joy in the rain
Laughters in the mist
Roses for Tears.
-Amar Basil
Olives in the wind
Laughters in the Mist
Sonnets on trees trunks
Lyrics on riding wheels
You grace my heart every day
Like pearls on a quiet harbour
Marvelling at what you do
I dearly pray you do much more
In the deepest stillness of my heart
You espy and wholly understand
Erupting songs in the distance
Waves of whispering tunes
Piercing the sole of tenderness
A warm climax of sweetness
Enfolds me in an unbearable JOY
Submerged in your aura of greatness
I whole being worships
Words and pictures
Crystals and sand
Chance and sight
Timeless ardors of Love
Wisdom of silence
Joy in the rain
Laughters in the mist
Roses for Tears.
-Amar Basil
///////////////////////
JOY HAS DIED!
I want to watch the moon,
To sail across the stars,
Through the dark canvas of the sky,
Dotted with twinkles and blue beauties..
But, in this book of my life,
The pages that I've seen
Are gradually unveiling the
Fractured pieces of me..
Causing my struggle to make a whole from a half, void.
Making it hard to unravel the tangled threads,
So all strands can become one.
Even when I try to collect the odds and ends,
Just to connect the unclear dots,
I have no clear answer to any question,
Only pieces, fragments and disarrayed angles...
How then can I watch this moon,
And sail across these stars
amidst all these inner chaos
When my joy is dead?
Pricilla
Ahaiwe
///////////////////////////////////////
JOY
She smiled at me
Like she always did
Her beautiful mouth decorated even more by her crooked teeth
that sparkled murky brown
Her skin was the shade of burnt midnight,
The direct result of having a sun sitting on her neck
She was beautiful
She is beautiful
With the type of beauty so hot it scorched your sight
Like treasure it's hidden,
discover it not you might
But if you find her
Invincible you are my friend
For You'd enjoy a glory that'd never end
But today
Like coffee clouds there was a storm brewing
No milk, no sugar, pure black
Just the way I hated it
With distaste I spat
And the phlegm clogged my sight
Today I blindly ignored joy
Misan Ogbe
///////////////////////////////////
POIGNANT
MENTATION
Joy betides me folly.
She haunts my sleep like a faceless masquerade
And torments my conscience like a prickling
sermon.
She calls to me to seek my heart's desire
But she hides away when i have reached the goal.
She causes me to rise above the drudgery of
labor
But she sinks down when I am at the summit.
Joy has forsaken me!
Where was her euphoria when I struck the streams
flowing of gold?
Where was her songs when my enemies I vanquished
in battle?
Where was her succour when I fought and rose
above my weaknesses?
Where was her passion when I indulged the
pleasures of flesh?
Where was her praise when I acquired the
luxuries of heart?
From the depths of despair she echoes
Her voice as supple as whisperings of age
And her song was the lyrics of reason.
She calls to me in names of hopes
And there I realised I had acquired in futility
And searched meaning in the places of vain.
Joy was the meaning I didn't deem
She was the reason that didn't fit
She was the home brimming with wine and laughter
But I sought her in the houses of whores and
treasures.
She was the arm raising hopes to the downtrodden
But I sought her in the sword striking and
vanquishing.
She was the heartbeat that binds blood and soul
together
But I sought her in the breath pulsating
ambition and power.
Joy was free as air but I couldn't breathe.
Joy was wise as letters but I couldn't read.
Joy was bright as day but I was blind.
Joy was passionate as music but I didn't tune
the soul.
Joy was pure as bliss but I couldn't feel.
Joy was in everything but I didn't realise,
until now.
Emmanuel
Ifeanyi
///////////////////////////////////////
JOY IS…A LOT OF THINGS, BOTH GOOD AND BAD.
Joy is drinking garri for
breakfast,
Knowing it makes sense of the
devil’s mourning,
Joy is, when you wake up in the
arms of the sun,
She embalms you in her fiery
fragrance,
Joy is when you kiss the tears of
an errant star,
He blesses you with his fastidious
laughter,
Joy is when bank alerts become
Orphans’ from Shylock’s usuries,
Bragging joys for the usurper,
Joy is when metaphors turn to
gloating rights,
Your oats become a tapestry of
goodness to the world,
Joy is when you bath naked in the
sun,
The crowd sees the pride of your
turgidity,
Dancing a macabre tumult,
Joy is when you write Macbeth’s
sins in the sands,
And watch Banquo become a Judas,
Joy is when devils become saints,
When they smell epitaphs from old
wives tales,
Joy is when you don’t write in
rhyme
But receive epiphanies over
gluttonous
Pentameters and meters,
Joy is when the ghost of
yesterday’s miseries wears a suit of tomorrow’s gallantry,
Joy is when you hear the devil
cried,
Over Caesar’s slaying by Trojan
minions,
‘’even you Brutus,my
son!’’
Joy is when you drink
the milk of your beloved’s nectar,
Her thighs are the
Gilead you seek redemption in,
Joy is when you see
your doppelganger,
And bless the fates
that you don’t share
Mother misery,
Joy is when you are
left bereft of what to write,
And wonder if my muse
has become an itinerant philanderer,
Joy is knowing, one
day,
We shall kiss our
twilight and watch our
Remonstrances become
Ulysses Odysseys,
And, Joy is sure that
My humanity is just a
chapter languishing in infantile fickleness.
Teddy Ugonna Richard
///////////////////////////////////
JUST
SAYING
Truths like masquerades come with frightening masks
They are not always what you think they are
After all good men do bad things
And bad men do things believing it is good
Some lies rely on this and hope to be true.
Men can be divided and conquered
Truths endure . . .
Depending on who is telling it?
However, truths are what truths are
The world must see it as it is.
The righteous die under the weight of their righteousness
Truth be told the dead are not more righteous
They are just dead.
. . . And so is joy
It hides behind dark places
It is what its
No matter who has it
It’s weight though light
Can be felt
Joy is
chisom
